The Dark Rose
by Zerhai Dragonspirit
Summary: Kagome in an assassin called the Dark Rose Sesshomaru is an assassin called the Killing Perfection What will happen when their paths cross, and what of the past that they both share?
1. Chapter 1

The Dark Rose

Chapter 1

Thank you to all the reviews; sorry for it being a bit underdone, I was more focused on getting it out than quality. Hope you like the redone version.

--

She sat on a high branch of a tree overlooking the scene in the village below her, the humans were oblivious to her presence. Many, more than likely had heard of her as 'The Dark Rose.' She liked the name so she accepted it since it seemed to suit her.

She was observing the village because she was searching for her latest target, a kitsune hanyou by the name of Sakura.

Her human father wanted her dead. The dark rose always made a point to find out the history of her targets and clients. This particular client was a man of high standing in the village she overlooked; he had had an affair with a local kitsune bitch youkai. When she had become pregnant, he had dropped her; though she had kept the hanyou child.

That had been 15 years ago. The kitsune and her daughter had recently approached him asking for aid and for him to claim his daughter as his own. He had taken one look at the pair and turned them out. Soon after he had sought out an assassin to "get rid of the trash" as he put it.

She had been traveling threw the area when she heard of this and sought the man out and cornered him in a dark alley. He had promised to pay her after the deed was done and he was presented with the hanyou's head. She had insisted on half now half later.

He haggled it down to ¼ now and ¾ later, and that was only after she had growled and made a show of fangs. She had agreed since she did not like to argue with humans, really it was a waste of time since they were so easily killed. After he had given her the gold she had disappeared into the shadows.

The dark Rose's nose flared trying to catch the scent of the hanyou with her youkai sense of smell. She found it.

The hanyou, Sakura, was close but not in the village, she was in the forest, probably watching the village, as the assassin was though for different reasons.

The assassin decided to call it a night. She knew Sakura was in the forest so she didn't worry she would pick up the scent after the dark rose had some rest. She jumped from the tree with silent grace causing her cape to flare slightly and entered the village, seeking the inn, her face unseen by any who happened to look at her, for it was covered with the hood of her midnight black cloak.

She quickly located the inn and approached it and walked to the innkeeper, who stood at the bar and placed a bag of gold on the counter between them, the inn keeper looked very nervous but eyed the bag hungrily.

"I require a room, the best you have," the dark rose said in a voice devoid of all emotion.

"Uh, um.yes ma'am, follow me," as soon as he said this she handed him the bag of gold with a clawed hand which he eyed wearily though he took the gold willingly enough, they always did, she thought to herself.

He lead the way to the finest room of the house, it had many silken pillows lining the floor along with a low table for eating and a futon in the corner of the finest quality.

Across the room was another door which led to a bathing room. She nodded to the innkeeper and stepped inside, sliding the door closed behind her, very nearly in the man's face.

She immediately put a barrier around the room no-one could enter with out her express permission, as soon as the room was secure she removed her cloak to reveal her hair, pointed ears and youkai facial markings.

Her eyes, though dead of emotion were the brightest emerald green. Her silky hair was a glistening black and when it was down went all the way to her hips, however at this moment it was in a braid which still reached the middle of her back; on her face she had four blue, two on each side. She folded her cloak and placed it in a corner near the door for easy access. Under her cloak she wore a black kimono of the finest silk, lined in silver with a silver dragon decorating it.

She walked to the door of the bathing room and slid open the curtain and stepped inside. She quickly removed her kimono and folded it neatly in a corner. She then settled herself into the hot water and started washing herself letting her mind drift to her earlier days, when her parents were still alive.

Flashback

"Kagome come back here its time for your bath," yelled a beautiful inuyoukai in human form at her young five year old daughter who had just run from her bath. The young inuyoukai cub ran from her mother's grasp and unknowing right into her father's strong arms. Who grabbed his cub and picked up a squealing Kagome.

"Let me down daddy! I don't want a bath!"

"No little one, it's time for your bath!"

He then carried his wiggling daughter to his waiting mate who was already in the bath. The inuyoukai then handed the 5 year old pup to his mother's waiting arms.

End Flashback

The Dark Rose was brought out of her pleasant memories by a knock on screen door to the room. She quickly got out of the bath and put a robe that was in the room for use for just this purpose and her cloak and slid open the door just enough to see the young human servant girl standing outside her door. She had black hair and wore an orange and white kimono and had an innocent look on her face.

"What do you need girl," asked the dark rose in a musical but serious voice through the door."

"The master of the house wants to know if you would like dinner brought to you."

"Very well but tell me girl what is your name?"

"It is Rin, ma'am."

"Then I want you to bring my food."

"Okay, I'll be right back."

The young girl then skipped back down the hall. She then closed the door and sat down on the pillows and took a scroll from her pack, unrolled it and proceeded to examine it. Soon there was another knock on the door.

She rolled up the scroll as she checked the aura of the one knocking, confirming it was the little girl Rin let the barrier down just enough for the young girl to come in.

"Okay come in."

The door slid open and Rin walked in carrying a tray of Oden and tea along with a cup. The young girl came in and slid a small table in front of the dark rose and placed the tray on it.

"Will there be anything else ma'am?"

The older woman placed two gold coins in the girls pocket then said, "No you may leave."

Dismissed, the girl skipped out of the room, closing the door behind her. The dark rose immediately replaced the barrier. Once it was replaced, she removed her hood, stood up removed her outer cloak, folding it up and placing it next to where she sat. She then sat down and started to eat the oden on the tray, this was good she thought, almost as good as her mother used to make.

Flashback

"Oden yeah," yelled a very excited inuyoukai pup named Kagome. She sat at a low table waiting for her mother to serve her favorite meal. Her mother smiled as she placed a bowl of oden in front of the young pup. Kagome practically inhaled it before her mother could reprimand her about her bad manners.

End Flashback

The older Kagome finished her oden then the tea and stood up; going to the futon and lay down, closing her eyes and fell into a light sleep.

Meanwhile a few miles from the village where the black rose slept, another assassin set up camp for the night. He had been tracking his quarry all day and knew she was but a few miles a head of him, he smirked yes his current employer had given him a good amount of gold in pre payment to for him track down and kill another assassin, called the Dark Rose.

He, the Killing Perfection, would have no problem with a female assassin since they were inferior to the males.


	2. Chapter 2

The Dark Rose

Chapter 2

Okay I am finally getting around to some of my more neglected stories…

--

Kagome woke an hour before sunrise, fully rested; she dressed carefully and pulled her cloak over herself. She made sure she had not left anything of hers in the room and then concentrated and erased her energy signature and scent from the room, it would not do to have another youkai figure out who she was.

She quickly left the room then went to the bar where the wife of the owner was standing wiping down the counter, she placed a bag of coins on the counter and said, "I was never here."

The human woman nodded and quickly snatched the pouch off the counter.

The Dark Rose left the inn in the predawn, immediately leaving town, tracking the scent of the hanyou who was her target.

Meanwhile The Killing Perfection was awakening, he quickly cleaned up his campsite careful not to leave any sign that he had been there, then set off in the direction of his mark, he knew she was very adept at hiding her scent, however she seemed to have a habit of only removing the scent of what type of youkai she was, nothing more.

He smirk, this bad habit of the dark rose would be her undoing.

He glanced around the clearing as he brushed dust from his pristine white pants, and then flicked a strand of his silver hair over his shoulder, his gold eyes satisfied he focused on removing all traced of his scent from the area, once he was finished he turned his back on the clearing and headed in the direction The Dark Rose was headed.

Quickly he came to a village and sneered silently, he had also seen this disgusting habit of hers, of staying in a human village when she rested, he could tell she had stayed in this village for as he walked through it following her scent, it went straight to the inn and then had left already, though he knew he truly was not far behind her, for her scent was no more than an hour old.

His eyes narrowed, this would be easier than he thought, he simply followed the scent at his own pace.

Meanwhile the object of his hunt is hunting her own quarry, she crouches in the bushes watching the mother and daughter, who at the moment were fishing for something to eat.

Kagome focused on the mother for a minute, by the set of the kitsunes shoulders and the proud way this female held her head, she had once belonged to a noble family. The dark rose pondered how she had fallen in love with a human, they were inferior monkeys.

The young hanyou was much more proficient at fishing than her mother and already caught twice as many fish as her mother.

Both females were crouched in the stream and when Sakura stood up, The dark rose noticed something that the hanyou had been hiding in her scent, the hanyou was pregnant, how curious but the only males scent on either female was that of the hanyou's father.

Kagome narrowed her eyes as she put the pieces together, there had been more to this story than she had been told by the villagers. She stayed where she was watching the two, she almost pitied them.

She growled in frustration, she had a strict policy against killing pups and pregnant females, and the man who had hired her knew about this, he was truly trying to clean up his mess, not wanting to take responsibility himself, and if it came out that he had raped his own hanyou child for the sheer pleasure of it, he would be banished from the village.

She stood up and walked into the open letting the two females notice his presence.

Sakura and mother narrowed their eyes and immediately went into battle stances.

The dark rose simply looked at them and said, "If I had wanted to kill you I would have done so already, calm down."

Sakura's mother narrowed her eyes, "who are you and what do you want?"

Kagome responded, "I am the assassin hired to kill your daughter."

Sakura backed up a few steps at that, a hand going to her protruding stomach.

Kagome sighed audibly, "worry not I have a strict policy against killing pregnant women and small children, I was not informed of the whole story."

Neither kitsune relaxed, and Sakura replied, "why should we trust you?"

The black rose simply responded, "you shouldn't, especially if you have heard of me however right now I am the only one who will probably show mercy to you. Very few other assassins have the policy that I do, and will not take pity on your condition hanyou."Sakura's mother growled at the dark rose, "why are you telling us this, we cannot even scent you, other than a slight scent of roses."

The dark rose bowed her head slightly, "and you won't smell anything more. Do not get me wrong, I hate hanyou's as much as the next full blooded youkai, but I do believe they have a right to defend themselves, now to come to my point," she focused on Sakura's mother, "you are obviously of a noble family, what are you doing looking for support from a human?"

She sighed, "when he and I were together, he swore he would accept any child I had, though when I got pregnant, I ran off for fear of his rejection. My family found out I was carrying a hanyou and turned me out, we have lived in the wilderness for most of Sakura's life. She was curious about her father and finally I gave in and he pretended to accept her only to rape her when I had gone out of the village to get our things. He allowed us to stay with him for a time, until Sakura was found pregnant then he turned us out."

The dark rose narrowed her eyes, she did not like her current employer, damn incestuous bastard.

The mother continued, "I wish there was some way to get back at him, the village knew that once I was his mistress, honestly I was welcomed in the village, the humans are very tolerant of youkai here, well tolerant for humans."

The dark rose smirked in the darkness of her hood, "Would they believe your story?"

The mother nodded, "I believe they would."

The dark rose bowed slightly, "then the two of you go back to the village, I will assure your safety from the villagers and him just in case they decide to attack you, though you will not see me."

Meanwhile not too far off The killing perfection sat in a tree watching and listening to the conversation, thinking, she shows pity for them, she is weak.

As Sakura and her mother left to their cave, the dark rose swiveled and stared right where he was, "what do you want, and why have you been evesdropping?"

The Killing Perfection's eyes widened slightly and stood up meeting her eyes, or where her eyes should be considering she had her hood up and her face was shadowed, his cold golden eyes seeking to pierce hers, he stepped forward, "that is none of your business, hanyou lover."

The dark rose looked onto the male and audibly growled, "you know nothing of me."

He drew his katana, the sword Tokijin, "defend yourself if you can, dark rose, he rushed forward only to be blocked by her own katana, he smirked, she was sneakier than he thought, maybe this would be more of a challenge than he had first thought.

He backed up and the two fought back and forth, exchanging blows, he noticed the marks on her wrist, familiar he thought, that color.

Neither seemed to make any headway with the other, at the moment evenly matched, suddenly the killing perfection saw a slight opening and took it, grazing the side of her arm, she avoided losing her arm barely she growled audibly again, she was getting pissed now.

The scent of her blood reached his nostrils, even her scent was familiar, she was inuyoukai like himself, he smirked now to get that cloak off to get a look at her face, he had gotten hints of it during the fight, but before he killed her he wanted to see her face.

"What are you a coward, hiding behind a cloak like that, it hinders your movement and weakens you more than you already are," the killing perfection taunted.

She narrowed her eyes, she knew this assassin by reputation, he was ruthless and arrogant, and rightly so, however something about him was familiar, something she couldn't quite place, "we will see who is weak," with that she tossed her cape off her body, letting it fall to the ground, she took her stance again, "kill me if you can, killing perfection."

He smirked as she removed her cloak, "prepare to die," and rushed her again.

Meanwhile Sakura and her mother had come back to the sound of blades clashing, and seeing what was happening, they ran back to the cave, they would not interfere in that battle.

For the next few hours they fought, neither gaining an advantage over the other, neither tiring.

Finally the dark rose jumped away, and said, "this is getting us no where," still she did not put down her guard.

He smirked slightly, "very true," he replied.

The dark rose narrowed her eyes, "Why are you trying to kill me by the way?"

He shrugged, "I was hired to kill you, for killing the prince of south."

She quirked an eyebrow, "that pompous brat deserved to die."

"Hn, that matters not, they paid me handsomely ahead of time to make sure you died and I get twice the amount when I prove you are dead," he replied.

She rolled her eyes slightly, "the parents paid me to kill their son then, hire you to kill me, what hypocrites."

He quirked an eyebrow, "oh really, that is interesting."

She sighed, "since it seems we are evenly matched, I offer a truce for now."

He nodded, "that is agreeable," he then sheathed Tokijin.

She sheathed her sword, and went and picked her cloak up and put it around her shoulders and over her head again.

He watched her, "may I ask why you pity those two kitsunes and wish to assist them?"

She shrugged, "men who rape their own daughters bothers me, if she had not been pregnant I would have gone through with the job as planned, however I decided to watch and when I noticed the scents I found she was pregnant. I will kill any hanyou as long as they are not infants, or pregnant. I only give them that much chance at life."

He nodded slightly, "I see, your pity is going to get you killed."

She shrugged, "it hasn't killed me yet."He narrowed his eyes, "I can see that."

She bowed her head slightly, "now if you will excuse me, I have matters to deal with."

He glared, "you still insist on helping them?"

She growled, "that is none of your business."

He growled back but turned around and left.

She walked quickly towards the cave she knew the kitsunes were staying in and when she got closer she was assaulted by the scent of blood, she did not increase her pace, she kept walking and when she got there, she found that both kitsunes had had their necks sliced open, and were dead.

She growled, it seemed that the man had gotten impatient and had hired another assassin, and the only other assassin in the area was the killing perfection, she would not let him walk away from her this time, she would kill him for killing that unborn child.

With that thought she ran off, sensing constantly for the hint of aura that was the killing perfection's aura.

--


	3. Chapter 3

The Dark Rose

Chapter 3

I hope you are enjoying my story!

--

Kagome ran in the direction she sensed the killing perfection, not even caring about fully masking her scent or aura, if there was one thing that pissed her off and made her lose control was a murderer of pregnant woman or a young child, her mind unconsciously going to another time and place as she searched out the other assassin.

Flashback

The young Kagome sat in her mothers arms, content, it had been a long day, and the mother and daughter were enjoying the sunset.

"My little Kagome, I have a surprise for you," her mother said in her ear.

The young Inuyoukai turned around, "really Mom, what is it," she said excitedly.

Her mother just smiled and said, "How would you like to be a big sister?"

Kagome got thoughtful in a way only a child can, then said, "I would love to be Mom."

Her mother had held her closer and said, "well you get to be a big sister because I am pregnant with you baby brother or sister."

Kagome's eyes got real big and she said, "really," she fully turned around in her mother's arms and put a hand on her mother's belly and her face no more than an inch away and said, "hello brother or sister," then she smiled up at her mother and hugged her, "I'm so excited Mom."

end flashback

Kagome came back to her senses as the bit of aura that she was following stopped and she smirked and kept going, he would pay for what he had done.

Meanwhile, the Killing Perfection was waiting for her, he had sensed her following him for some time now, why is she blindly rushing in, this was not what she usually did, when on a job, the dark rose had the reputation of stalking her prey meticulously, now why was she coming at this Sesshomaru like an enraged elephant.

Kagome's eyes tinged in red as she approached him and though he was ready for her, attacked him head on and kept attacking, surprising him, that she was pushing him back instead of the even match they were earlier.

He noticed the slight tinge of red in her eyes, hmmm he thought, she acts like she is fighting for something or someone, he growled as he attacked again, trying to push her back.

As they fought her eyes slowly got more red when suddenly her aura pushed him back and he smirked as he watched her transform to her true form, that of a monstrously large black dog.

He smirked two could play that game, he thought, as he let go of his beast and transformed to his own true form.

They circled each other biting and nipping at each other, trying to go for the other's throat, finally Sesshomaru saw an opening, her blind rage was making her reckless, he pounced on her and pinned her to the ground with his fangs at her thoat.

"SUBMIT," he growled.

She struggled, and he bit down harder, he growled again, "SUBMIT!"

She whimpered under him and he waited for her to transform and pass out before he transformed back himself, he would find out why she would attack like that and lose control, if she attacks again I will be forced to kill her.

He set up camp and waited for her to wake, he went hunting and as he came back to camp with two boars over his shoulder, she started to stir, he knew she would be ravenous, the transformation really takes it out of you and the only thing that would sate your hunger after transforming is raw meat.

Though she did not wake, she stirred, he set one boar near her and started to devour his own, once finished he sat back to observe her.

He had noticed back when they fought earlier that her face was familiar, he did not know from where but it was familiar, that familiarity is what had saved her, there were so few to him that held such a familiarity to him, and most of them were dead.

He watched as she stirred and sat up, she scented the dead boar and immediately started to devour it and had it finished before she noticed him observing her. She growled at him, "you bastard, have you no honor?"

He quirked an eyebrow, "no honor, where do you get his information, I am the one who has not killed you, you are the one who now owes me your life. I simply wish to know why you came charging after me, in rage, when you had made known your plans to assist the kitsunes."

She glared at him, "you should know you are the one who killed them."

He narrowed his eyes at her, "I did no such thing."

She growled, "and how would I know that you are not lying?"

He sighed, and pulled something out of a pouch attached to his waist, and tossed it to her and she looked at it, it was a tiny crescent moon made of silver, "did you see one of those on one of their foreheads?"

She shook her head, "no there was not."

He shrugged, "then I didn't kill them, these crescents are the sign I use to stake the claim of the kill, where you leave your scent of roses and darkness, this is mine."

She looked down at the little crescent and sighed, she felt very foolish.

He smirked at her, "I have spared you for another reason, you look familiar to myself, I wish to know why for as far as I know this is the first encounter we have had."

She fully sat up, "I do not know, though I admit you look familiar to me as well, though I have not been able to place it."

He shrugged and looked up to the darkening sky, "what is your name, dark Rose?"

She glared up at him, "you should know I will not tell me my name, as I will don't expect you to tell me yours."

He shrugged again, "I would not ask such a thing without giving up my name as well."

She looked at him shocked, "why would you want to know my name?"

He looked at her and smirked, "if I knew your name and you mine it might clear up the mystery as to why we are familiar to one another."

She looked up to the sky, "on one condition."

He quirked an eyebrow, "which is?"

She responded, "any job in which we are to come after one another will be refused."

He nodded, "that is reasonable, I agree."

She pulled out a small dagger, "you swear on your blood?"

H responded by nodding.

She stood and came over to him, then knelt next to him and held out her hand for his, when he did she cut across his palm, then handed the dagger to him, then gave him her hand, which he cut across her palm.

They joined their cut hands and they both started murmuring a spell and a string of red light bonded their hands, shone white then disappeared and when they released hands a thin silver line across their palms where the cut had been.

She returned to her spot and nodded, "my name is Kagome Higarashi,"He inclined his head, "and I am Sesshomaru Taishou."She was the first to react with an open jaw and wide eyes, then quickly regained her composure and quickly got to her knees in front of him, "my lord."

He growled, "get up my family no longer rules the west, my father was the last Taishou lord of west, and as you well know he is dead."

She sat up.

He examined his claws, "and you would be the daughter of my father's late general, am I correct?"

She nodded, "yes."

He sighed, "it has been a very long time since we last saw each other hasn't it."She smiled, a rarity on her face, "yes, so very long, humans only remember in their histories."

"We need rest, especially if you decide to find out what happened to the kitsunes," he said.

She nodded, "yes," she jumped to one of the trees, "good night my lord," and with that reclined against the trunk.

He knew she was only half asleep, the same as he did, he sighed to himself, it had been too long since that fateful day when the rule of the Taishou family had fallen, he and Kagome had been but pups then, her father the most loyal general and his father the Lord, they had been promised to each other.

Flashback

A young Sesshomaru rushed through the halls looking for his friend, tears running down his face, he had just seen his step mother, the human Izayoi killed right in front of him, the whole palace was under attack, he had avoided being killed because he had hidden under the bed and the man who had killed her had been human.

The white inuyoukai pup, came to his friend's room and opened it only to find it empty he rushed to the next door, which was her parents room and opened it and the sight he saw was horrifying, the general and his pregnant wife were slain, apparently general Higarashi had tried to protect her and then he had been stabbed with a spear that tore through both of them, he looked around.

Suddenly he heard a whimper and he followed it and found his best friend, she was curled up in a corner of the closet, it had apparently scared her horribly to see her parents die.

Sesshomaru grabbed her hand, "come on we need to get out of here!"

She let herself be drug out of the closet and raced down the hall with him, trying to get to the exit located in the kitchen. Suddenly they had heard tromping feet and they quickly tried to hide in another room, but it was too late they had been seen and the soldiers had each grabbed one Inuyoukai pup, yanking them out of each others arms, that was the last time they had seen each other.

end flashback

Sesshomaru sighed, he never thought he would ever see Kagome ever again, honestly he had thought her dead, now here she was in front of him, as grown up as himself and surprisingly in the same profession, and more than likely had entered it for the same reasons as himself, revenge, though she probably had not had a chance for it, as he had not either, he would stay with her as she went to the village and found out what happened to those kitsunes, if for nothing else than to learn more of his childhood friend.

Meanwhile back at that village, a man with black hair and red eyes sat in a room in the inn sharpening his daggers, that had been too easy, he thought, the two fighting inus had only made it easier for him to kill the hanyou Sakura and her mother for the one who wanted them dead.

He smirked and pulled out a bag of coins, that Dark Rose was a fool to let her pity get in the way of such easy gold.

--

OOOh can you guess who that is? hehe..


End file.
